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Created Equal: Freedom Riders

The Created Equal: America’s Civil Rights Struggle film screening and discussion series returns this week with an event focused on the documentary film Freedom Riders. To explore this moment in our nation’s history, we have invited three veterans of the Freedom Rides of 1961 to share their stories.

The upcoming program will take place on Thursday, Oct. 16 at 6:30 p.m. in the Harry S. Downs Center and will feature selected clips from the film and facilitated discussions. Veteran Freedom Riders Joan Browning, Charles Person and Hank Thomas will share their personal stories of the historic Freedom Rides and how they risked their lives to challenge the system of segregation in interstate travel in the Deep South. The forum is free and open to the public. For those unable to attend in person, the event will be streamed live online at http://clayton.libguides.com/CreatedEqual.

All members of the campus and surrounding community are invited to view the film Freedom Riders in its entirety online at http://clayton.libguides.com/CreatedEqual. The film will also be shown prior to the Oct. 16 event, starting at 4 p.m.

About Created Equal

Created Equal: America’s Civil Rights Struggle is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) that uses the power of documentary films to encourage community discussion of America’s civil rights history. The Clayton State Library is one of 473 institutions across the country awarded a set of four films chronicling the history of the Civil Rights Movement. NEH has partnered with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History to develop programmatic and support materials for the sites.

Each of the Created Equal films was produced with NEH support, and each tells remarkable stories of individuals who challenged the social and legal status quo of deeply rooted institutions, from slavery to segregation. Created Equal programs bring communities together to revisit our shared history and help bridge deep racial and cultural divides in American civic life. Visit http://www.createdequal.neh.gov for more information.

The Created Equal film set and public programs have been made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, as part of its Bridging Cultures initiative, in partnership with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.

About the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

Founded in 1994, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History is a nonprofit organization that promotes excellence in the teaching and learning of American history. Programs include publications, teacher seminars, a national Affiliate School Program, traveling exhibitions, and online materials for teachers, students, and the general public. http://www.gilderlehrman.org.

About the National Endowment for the Humanities

Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports learning in history, literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities. NEH grants enrich classroom learning, create and preserve knowledge, and bring ideas to life through public television, radio, museum exhibitions, and programs in libraries and other community places. http://www.neh.gov.